After a short break, the next round of matches began as scheduled.
During the buildup, Vought International revealed that an exceptionally important guest would be joining the broadcast.
"Exceptionally" was the key word. Hawkeye and A-Train had already qualified as heavyweight guests in the previous round, so the mystery guest about to enter the Studio was clearly a bigger name than either of them.
Among The Seven and The Boys, there was no obvious ranking among the ordinary members. That was especially true of The Seven: each member had a distinct appeal, promotional channels, and fan base. Only the leaders of the two groups could clearly be called bigger names than A-Train and Hawkeye.
Scarlet Witch was more popular than the other members of The Boys, but Vought International, speaking in an official capacity, would never be so careless with its wording. Calling her a bigger star than Hawkeye could look like it was praising one member of the group at the other's expense.
So once the announcement came out, viewers guessed that today's guest had to be either Federal Captain or Homelander.
Federal Captain had taken the world by storm more than twenty years ago. Though he had long since vanished from the screen, he still held an irreplaceable place in the hearts of the older generation. Vought International might have climbed to new heights with a superhero team built around Homelander, but his fan base skewed younger. The two men represented the memories of two generations, and both held an exalted place in the public's eyes.
Sure enough, Homelander's appearance confirmed their guess.
When he appeared on the live broadcast, viewers watching from home could not help crying out.
Homelander had not come alone. A blond little Boy stood beside him.
The Boy looked about ten years old.